North Korea brutally executed over 30 students for watching banned South Korean dramas, underscoring the regime’s harsh repression and ideological control. This act highlights North Korea’s alliances with Russia, China and Iran amid rising global tensions.
Credible reports from North Korea suggest that 30 students were executed by gunfire last week for watching South Korean TV shows. The news comes as the pariah state has become a key ally of Russia, China and Iran as the prospects of war have significantly risen.
In a chilling revelation, South Korean media claims that North Korea has executed more than 30 students for secretly watching a highly taboo South Korean drama series.
The reports, which emerged from South Korea’s local cable TV network Chosun on July 11, 2014, cite government officials who allege that these executions were carried out by live shooting.
More than 30 students were executed for watching banned South Korean dramas
The students, who were in junior high school, were caught watching the banned content last week.
According to the cable company, the drama series files were on USB sticks, smuggled across the South Korean border by activists.
These USB sticks were sent over in balloons in June, marking a risky and desperate attempt to penetrate the highly controlled North Korean media environment.
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When approached for confirmation, South Korea’s Unification Ministry declined to verify TV Chosun’s report.
However, an unnamed official commented, “It is widely known that North Korean authorities strictly control and punish people under three evil laws, including the law on rejecting hostile culture and ideas.”
This statement aligns with the 2024 North Korean Human Rights Report released by the Unification Ministry, which documented several instances of people being executed for watching South Korean dramas.
North Korea enforces strict laws against South Korean cultural influences seeping into the public’s mind
North Korea’s strict law on the rejection of South Korean culture and hostile ideology, which was first enforced in December 2020, prescribes severe penalties for those caught distributing South Korean media.
This includes books, songs or images, with the maximum penalty being death.
Viewers of such media can be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison, and those who speak or sing in South Korean dialects can face up to two years of hard labour.
Reports from last month also revealed that approximately 30 North Korean teenagers, aged around 17, were sentenced to life imprisonment or execution in a broader crackdown on the spread of South Korean culture.
This highlights the regime’s relentless efforts to suppress any cultural influence from the South, which it views as a significant ideological threat.
Severe punishments continue for those caught watching South Korean TV output in the Stalinist state
Earlier this year, North Korean authorities released a video of a show trial of two 16-year-old teenagers. In brief, they were accused of watching South Korean dramas.
The teenagers were eventually sentenced to 12 years of hard labour.
The video also depicted several women being punished for styling their hair. In particular for dressing like characters from these dramas. It all emphasises the regime’s stringent control over cultural expression.
The 2024 Human Rights Report on North Korea, compiled by defectors, is harrowing.
For instance, it details the severe punishments meted out to those exposed to South Korean culture or food. Long jail sentences during which many perish are detailed.
There are collective punishments as well as cruel and inhuman execution methods. The goal is to stoke fear and obedience.
Hostile behaviours: wedding dresses and wine glasses
Behaviour considered hostile include wearing a white wedding dress instead of a traditional hanbok. In addition, drinking from a wine glass and wearing sunglasses.
These reports paint a grim picture.
In short, they show the extent to which the North Korean regime goes to maintain its cultural isolation. To the country’s Communist Party, this is seen as ideological purity.
The international community continues to express concern over the human rights abuses in North Korea. Undeniably this latest report just adds to an already extensive catalogue of violations.
The execution of students for watching foreign media is repulsive to free thinking people. At length, it highlights the brutal methods employed by the regime to enforce its draconian laws and control its populace.
North Korea – the World’s most repressive state
As these reports circulate, the world is reminded that North Korea is perhaps the world’s most repressive state.
Significantly, it is allied with countries such as Iran, China and Russia. Certainly this should also remind us of the human rights records in these countries.
In addition, these alliances serve to buoy Kim Jong Un and his evil regime. In the meantime, it continues to violently repress its own population.
It is also noteworthy given rising tensions worldwide, particularly in the Indo-Pacific.
Last week, the head of the British armed forces briefed its new government. He said the British state had only three years to double its military in size. The army leadership told the UK government that the chances of war within that time frame had risen dramatically.
In short, only accelerated deterrence at this time could stop it.
At the same time, Thailand continues to have close ties with the pariah state. However, it serves as a key transit point for desperate North Korean refugees escaping Kim Jong Un’s tyranny.
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Further reading:
Police dubious of answers emerging from arrested suspects in the murder of a South Korean tourist in Thailand
Two men arrested for the body in barrel murder of a South Korean tourist, final suspect at large in Burma
South Korean tourist taken from Bangkok nightlife centre, tortured, murdered and buried in a bin
Chinese student here only 20 days kidnapped, tortured and murdered by evil gang from China here as tourists
Fear-mongering, fake news and disinformation being stoked in China against visiting Thailand
Chinese tourists arrested on kidnapping and extortion charges insist they are innocent
Police defend Pattaya search warrant raid which saw two officers shot with Chinese man arrested and charged
About the Author
James Morris and Son Nguyen
James Morris is a pename for an international writer based in Bangkok who works on various international news media. He is a sub editor with the Thai Examiner news website since it began in 2015. Son Nguyen is an international writer and news commentator specialising in Thai news and current affairs. He commenced working with the Thai Examiner News Desk in May 2018.
- All posts by James Morris and Son Nguyen
